1. health and fitness
2. addiction

Introduction
The key to being a successful medical marijuana advocate is effective communication.
Specifically, advocates must be able to: 1) convey the most important arguments in
support of medical marijuana laws, and 2) respond to arguments made in opposition to
medical marijuana laws. Whether you are engaging in personal discussions, participating
in public debates, conducting media interviews, or corresponding with government
officials, it is critical that you are prepared.
This document will provide you with the most persuasive talking points and strongest
rebuttals to employ when communicating about medical marijuana. We recommend you
keep it handy when conducting interviews or engaging in public debates. You are also
welcome to convey the information verbatim or simply use it as a general guide when
carrying out advocacy activities.
NOTE: Statistics can change rapidly and there are constant developments surrounding
the issue. If you would like to confirm whether a given piece of information is current, or
if you would like to suggest additions or revisions to this document, please contact the
Marijuana Policy Project communications department at [email protected].
Proactive Arguments
These are the key points to convey when given the opportunity to make our case.
•
Medical marijuana is proven to be effective in the treatment of a variety of
debilitating medical conditions. A vast majority of Americans recognize the
legitimate medical benefits of marijuana, as well as a large number of medical
organizations. It is far less harmful and poses fewer negative side effects than
most prescription drugs – especially painkillers – and patients often find it to be a
more effective treatment.
•
Seriously ill people should not be subject to arrest and criminal penalties for
using medical marijuana. If marijuana can provide relief to those suffering from
terrible illnesses like cancer and HIV/AIDS, it is unconscionable to criminalize
them for using it. People who would benefit from medical marijuana should not
have to wait – and in some cases cannot wait – for the right to use it legally.
Updated July 7, 2014
•
Regulating the cultivation and sale of medical marijuana would ensure
patients have legal, safe, and reliable access to medical marijuana. Patients
should not have to resort to the potentially dangerous underground market to
access their medicine. By regulating medical marijuana, we can ensure it is free of
pesticides, molds, and other impurities, and patients will know exactly what they
are getting.
•
Three out of four Americans believe marijuana has legitimate medical uses
and that people with serious illnesses should have safe and legal access to it.1,2
Twenty-three states and Washington, D.C. have adopted laws that allow people
with certain medical conditions to use medical marijuana, and similar laws are
being considered in states around the country.
Reactive Arguments
These are responses to common arguments made by opponents. These are generally
subjects that we do not wish to bring up proactively, but should be ready to address in a
way that conveys our message.
It has no medical value
•
There is a mountain of scientific evidence that demonstrates marijuana is a
safe and effective medicine for people suffering from a variety of debilitating
medical conditions. Why would hundreds of thousands of seriously ill people
risk being arrested and possibly imprisoned to use something that doesn’t work?
In 1999, the National Academy of Sciences’ Institute of Medicine (IOM)
reported, “Nausea, appetite loss, pain, and anxiety are all afflictions of wasting,
and all can be mitigated by marijuana.”3
Three University of California studies published since February 2007 have found
that marijuana relieves neuropathic pain (pain caused by damage to nerves), a
symptom commonly associated with multiple sclerosis, HIV/AIDS, diabetes, and
a variety of other conditions for which conventional pain drugs are notoriously
inadequate — and it did so with only minor side effects.4, 5, 6
1
Pew Research Center, “Majority Now Supports Legalizing Marijuana,” April 13, 2013: 6.
McMurray, Colleen, “Medicinal Marijuana: Is It What the Doctor Ordered?,” Gallup, December 16, 2003.
3
Institute of Medicine, Marijuana and Medicine: Assessing the Science Base (Washington, D.C.: National Academy
Press, 1999), 159.
4
Abrams, D., Jay, C., Shade, S., Vizoso, H., Reda, H., Press S., Kelly M., Rowbotham M., and Petersen, K., “Cannabis
in painful HIV-associated sensory neuropathy: A randomized placebo-controlled trial,” Neurology 68: 515-521.
5
Wilsey, B. et al., “A randomized, placebo-controlled, crossover trial of cannabis cigarettes in neuropathic pain.” The
Journal of Pain 9(6): 506-521.
6
Ellis, R.J. et al., “Smoked medicinal cannabis for neuropathic pain in HIV: a randomized, crossover clinical trial,”
Neuropsychopharmacology. Published online ahead of print, August 6, 2008.
2
A 2008 article in the journal Cancer Research reported that marijuana has
profound cancer-fighting abilities, killing malignant cancer cells associated with
brain cancer, prostate cancer, breast cancer, lung cancer, pancreatic cancer, skin
cancer, and lymphoma.7
An observational study published in the European Journal of Gastroenterology &
Hepatology found that hepatitis C patients using marijuana had three times the
cure rate of non-users because it appeared to relieve the noxious side effects of
anti-hepatitis C drugs, allowing patients to successfully complete treatment.8
•
Some federal agencies have taken actions that demonstrate it recognizes the
medical benefits of marijuana. For example, the U.S. Department of Health and
Human Services holds a patent on the use of cannabinoids as neuroprotectants and
antioxidants. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recognized the
medical benefits of THC, a key component of marijuana, when it approved a
synthetic form known as Marinol (or dronabinol in its generic form).
Unfortunately, this prescription pill version has proven to be less effective than
actual marijuana and has much more pronounced side effects.
On September 6, 1988, after hearing two years of testimony, Drug Enforcement
Administration (DEA) chief administrative law judge Francis Young, ruled:
“Marijuana, in its natural form, is one of the safest therapeutically active
substances known to man. By any measure of rational analysis marijuana can be
safely used within the supervised routine of medical care ... It would be
unreasonable, arbitrary, and capricious for DEA to continue to stand between
those sufferers and the benefits of this substance.”9
•
7
Numerous medical organizations have examined the evidence and concluded
that marijuana can be a safe, effective medicine for some patients. They
include the American Public Health Association, the American College of
Physicians, the American Nurses Association, and a number of state medical and
public health organizations, among others. For example, the American College of
Physicians stated, “Evidence not only supports the use of medical marijuana in
certain conditions, but also suggests numerous indications for cannabinoids.”10 In
2009, the American Medical Association called on the federal government to
reconsider marijuana’s classification under federal law, noting clinical trials have
shown marijuana’s medical efficacy. (See the following section for a larger list of
organizations that support medical marijuana).
Sarfaraz et al., “Cannabinoids for Cancer Treatment: Progress and Promise,” Cancer Research 68 (2008): 339-342.
Sylvestre D., Clements B., Malibu Y., “Cannabis use improves retention and virological outcomes in patients treated
for hepatitis C,” European Journal of Gastroenterology & Hepatology 18 (2006): 1057-1063.
9
“In the Matter of Marijuana Rescheduling Petition,” DEA Docket No. 86-22, September 6, 1988.
10
American College of Physicians, “Supporting Research into the Therapeutic Role of Marijuana,” 2008.
8
Medical marijuana is opposed by the American Medical Association,
the American Cancer Society, and other medical organizations
•
A large and growing number of medical and health organizations have
recognized marijuana’s medical value. In 2009, the American Medical
Association made a major shift in its position, calling on the federal
government to reconsider marijuana’s status as a Schedule I drug, which
bars medical use under federal law.11 Some medical organizations don’t have a
position on medical marijuana, but neutrality shouldn’t be confused with
supporting the arrest and imprisonment of patients. As former U.S. Surgeon
General Dr. Joycelyn Elders put it in a 2004 newspaper column, “I know of no
medical group that believes that jailing sick and dying people is good for them.”12
•
Surveys of physicians show strong support for medical marijuana. For
example, a 2005 national survey of physicians conducted by HCD Research and
the Muhlenberg College Institute of Public Opinion found that 73% of doctors
supported use of marijuana to treat nausea, pain, and other symptoms associated
with AIDS, cancer, and glaucoma. Fifty-six percent would recommend medical
marijuana to patients if permitted by state law, even if it remained illegal under
federal law.13
•
The following medical organizations and prominent associations are among
those that have taken favorable positions on medical marijuana:
AIDS Action Council; AIDS Foundation of Chicago; AIDS Project Rhode Island;
American Academy of HIV Medicine (AAHIVM); American Anthropological
Association; American Association for Social Psychiatry; American Bar
Association; American College of Physicians; American Nurses Association;
American Public Health Association; Americans for Democratic Action;
Associated Medical Schools of New York; Being Alive: People With HIV/AIDS
Action Committee (San Diego); California Democratic Council; California
Legislative Council for Older Americans; California Nurses Association;
California Pharmacists Association; California Society of Addiction Medicine;
California-Pacific Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church; Colorado
Nurses Association; Consumer Reports magazine; Epilepsy Foundation;
Episcopal Church; Gray Panthers; Hawaii Nurses Association; Iowa Democratic
Party; Leukemia & Lymphoma Society; Life Extension Foundation; Lymphoma
Foundation of America; Medical Society of the State of New York; Medical
Student Section of the American Medical Association; National Association of
People With AIDS; New Mexico Nurses Association; New York County Medical
Society; New York State AIDS Advisory Council; New York State Association of
11
Hoeffel, John, “Medical Marijuana Gets a Boost From Major Doctors Group,” Los Angeles Times, November 11,
2009.
12
Elders, Joycelyn, “Myths About Medical Marijuana,” Providence Journal, March 26, 2004.
13
HCD Research, “Physicians and Consumers Approve of Medical Marijuana Use,” June 9, 2005.
County Health Officials; New York State Hospice and Palliative Care
Association; New York State Nurses Association; New York StateWide Senior
Action Council, Inc.; Ninth District of the New York State Medical Society
(Westchester, Rockland, Orange, Putnam, Dutchess, and Ulster counties);
Presbyterian Church (USA); Progressive National Baptist Convention; Project
Inform (national HIV/AIDS treatment education advocacy organization); Rhode
Island Medical Society; Rhode Island State Nurses Association; Society for the
Study of Social Problems; Test Positive Aware Network (Illinois); Texas
Democratic Party; Union of Reform Judaism (formerly Union of American
Hebrew Congregations); Unitarian Universalist Association; United Church of
Christ; United Methodist Church; United Nurses and Allied Professionals (Rhode
Island); Wisconsin Nurses Association; Wisconsin Public Health Association; and
numerous other health and medical groups.14
Medicine should be based on science, not politics or public opinion
•
The science is clear — marijuana is a safe and effective treatment for a
variety of debilitating medical conditions. Countless researchers and
organizations have documented the medical benefits of marijuana, including the
Institute of Medicine, the American College of Physicians, the American Public
Health Association, the American Nurses Association, and the Epilepsy
Foundation. If medicine should be based on science and not politics, our laws
should reflect the facts and allow doctors to recommend marijuana to patients if
they believe it will be effective. If politicians stand in the way in states with a
ballot initiative process, citizens often have no other option than to take the issue
to the voters.
It’s already available for some people
•
Twenty-three states and Washington, D.C. have adopted laws that allow
patients with certain conditions to use medical marijuana if their doctors
recommend it, but it is still illegal in the other 29 states and under federal
law. Four patients in the United States legally receive marijuana from the federal
government. These patients are in an experimental program that was closed to all
new applicants in 1992. Thousands of Americans used marijuana through
experimental state programs in the late 1970s and early 1980s, but none of these
programs are presently operating.
Medicine should be prescribed, not recommended
•
14
Doctors who recommend medical marijuana must examine patients and
review their records, just as they would before prescribing any other
“Partial List of Organizations with Favorable Medicinal Marijuana Positions,” State-By-State Report, Marijuana
Policy Project, 2011.
medication. If we can trust doctors to write prescriptions, why not trust them to
provide their professional recommendations on their letterhead? The only
difference is that a prescription is recognized under federal law. The vast majority
of doctors who are willing to write such recommendations do not do so lightly or
casually, and state medical boards often investigate and discipline physicians who
fail to follow appropriate standards of care.
•
Despite its proven medical benefits, federal law prohibits doctors from
“prescribing” marijuana for any reason. There needs to be a way for state
criminal justice systems to determine who has a legitimate medical need for
medical marijuana, so they require doctors’ recommendations instead. Doctors
recommend many things: exercise, rest, chicken soup, vitamins, cranberry juice
for bladder infections, and so on. The right of physicians to recommend marijuana
when appropriate for a patient’s condition has been upheld by the federal courts.
We don’t need it because there are already drugs that work better
•
Marijuana can be the most effective treatment — or the only effective
treatment — for some patients. For example, existing prescription drugs often
fail to relieve neuropathic pain — pain caused by damage to the nerves —
whereas marijuana has been shown to provide effective relief, even in patients for
whom the conventional drugs have failed. This type of pain affects millions of
Americans with multiple sclerosis, diabetes, HIV/AIDS, and other illnesses.
•
Different people respond differently to different medicines; the most effective
drug for one person might not work at all for another, or it might have more
pronounced side effects. There are often a variety of drugs on the market to treat
the same ailment, which is why the Physicians’ Desk Reference comprises 3,000
pages of prescription drugs instead of just one drug per symptom or condition. For
example, consider all of the prescription drugs available to treat pain: Oxycontin,
Vicodin, Percocet, Codeine, etc. There is a reason why we don’t just determine
which is “best” and then ban all of the rest. Treatment decisions should be made
in doctors’ offices, not by politicians, bureaucrats, and law enforcement officials.
Doctors must have the freedom to choose what works best for each of their
patients.
In 1999, the Institute of Medicine reported:
“Although some medications are more effective than marijuana for these
problems, they are not equally effective in all patients.”15
“[T]here will likely always be a subpopulation of patients who do not respond
well to other medications. The combination of cannabinoid drug effects (anxiety
reduction, appetite stimulation, nausea reduction, and pain relief) suggests that
15
Institute of Medicine, 159.
cannabinoids would be moderately well suited for certain conditions, such as
chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting and AIDS wasting.”16
“The critical issue is not whether marijuana or cannabinoid drugs might be
superior to the new drugs, but whether some group of patients might obtain added
or better relief from marijuana or cannabinoid drugs.”17
It is already available in the form of a prescription pill
16
•
The prescription pill can be problematic for many patients. The prescription
pill known as Marinol (with the generic name dronabinol) is not actually
marijuana; it is a synthetic version of THC, the psychoactive component
responsible for marijuana’s “high.” It can take an hour or longer to take effect,
whereas vaporized or smoked marijuana is effective almost instantaneously. Also,
the dose of THC absorbed in the pill form is often too high or too low, and its
slow and uneven absorption makes dosing difficult. In 2003, The Lancet
Neurology reported, “Oral administration is probably the least satisfactory route
for cannabis.”18 In its 2008 position paper on medical marijuana, the American
College of Physicians noted, “Oral THC is slow in onset of action but produces
more pronounced, and often unfavorable, psychoactive effects than those
experienced with smoking.”19 If the prescription pill were sufficient, why would
hundreds of thousands of seriously ill people break the law by using whole
marijuana instead?
•
Marijuana contains about 80 active cannabinoids in addition to THC, and
many of them contribute to marijuana’s therapeutic effects.20 For example,
cannabidiol (CBD) has been shown to have anti-nausea, anti-anxiety, and antiinflammatory actions, as well as the ability to protect nerve cells from many kinds
of damage.21 CBD also moderates the effects of THC, so patients are less likely to
get excessively “high.” Other cannabinoids naturally contained in marijuana have
also shown significant therapeutic promise.
•
Patients suffering from nausea, such as those undergoing chemotherapy, are
often unable to keep pills down. During a meeting of an expert panel convened
by the National Institutes of Health in 1997 to review the scientific data on
medical marijuana, panel member Mark Kris, M.D. said, “[T]he last thing that
[patients] want is a pill when they are already nauseated or are in the act of
throwing up.”22
Institute of Medicine, 3-4.
Institute of Medicine, 153.
18
Baker, David, et al., “The Therapeutic Potential of Cannabis,” The Lancet Neurology 2 (May 2003): 291-298.
19
American College of Physicians, “Supporting Research into the Therapeutic Role of Marijuana,” 2008.
20
Izzo A.A., et al. “Non-Psychotropic Plant Cannabinoids: New Therapeutic Opportunities From an Ancient Herb,”
Trends in Pharmacological Sciences 30(10), 2009: 515-527.
21
Mechoulam R., et al., “Cannabidiol — Recent Advances, ” Chemistry and Biodiversity 4 (2007): 1678-1692.
22
“Report on the Possible Medical Uses of Marijuana,” NIH medicinal marijuana expert group, Rockville, MD,
National Institutes of Health, August 8, 1997; notes 8, 89.
17
We can make synthetic forms of the other useful cannabinoids
•
Seriously ill people should not have to wait for a potentially less effective
drug when marijuana could be helping them now. Spending time and money
testing and producing pharmaceutical versions of marijuana’s many cannabinoids
might produce useful drugs some day, but it will be years before any new
cannabinoid drugs reach pharmacy shelves. In 1999, the Institute of Medicine
urged such research into potential new drugs, but it noted, “In the meantime there
are patients with debilitating symptoms for whom smoked marijuana might
provide relief.”23 In its natural form, marijuana is a safe and effective medicine
that has already provided relief to millions of people.
•
We support research into the different cannabinoids, but it should not be
used as a stall tactic to keep medical marijuana illegal. Patients should be
allowed to use marijuana if their doctors think it is currently the best treatment
option. Why should seriously ill patients have to risk arrest and jail waiting for
new drugs that simply replicate marijuana’s effects?
If the pill form doesn’t work, we can develop other forms of delivery
•
The availability of such delivery systems should not be used as an excuse to
maintain the prohibition of the use of natural marijuana. As long as there are
patients and doctors who believe whole marijuana is effective, they should not be
punished for using or recommending it, regardless of what alternatives are
available.
•
A safe and effective delivery system for whole marijuana already exists:
vaporization. Vaporizers are simple devices that give users the fast action of
inhaled cannabinoids without most of those unwanted irritant.24, 25 Essentially,
vaporizing entails heating it to the point that it releases the active chemicals in
vapor form, so there is no smoke involved. Any delivery system that helps
patients should be made available, but their development should not substitute for
the research into marijuana that is necessary for FDA approval of this natural
medicine.
There is a marijuana spray that makes the crude plant unnecessary
•
23
The liquid extract of whole marijuana proves marijuana is an effective
medicine. Sativex (or nabiximols in its generic form) is a mouth spray that has
been approved in Canada and a number of European countries for the treatment of
Institute of Medicine, 7.
Abrams, D.I., et al., “Vaporization as a Smokeless Cannabis Delivery System: A Pilot Study,” Clinical
Pharmacology and Therapeutics, April 11, 2007. [Epub ahead of print.]
25
Earleywine, M., Barnwell, S.S., “Decreased Respiratory Symptoms in Cannabis Users Who Vaporize,” Harm
Reduction Journal 4 (2007): 11.
24
symptoms associated with multiple sclerosis. Its producer, GW Pharmaceuticals,
in the process of getting it approved in the United States, but it is likely to take
several years.
•
Marijuana in its natural form has significant advantages over Sativex. For
one thing, Sativex acts much more slowly than marijuana that is vaporized or
smoked. Peak blood levels are reached in one and a half to four hours, as opposed
to a matter of minutes with inhalation.26 Also, patients have found that different
strains of marijuana are often more effective for different conditions. Sativex is
just one specific strain of marijuana, so it is unlikely to help every patient who
benefits (or could benefit) from whole marijuana. Patients and doctors should be
able to choose which form of marijuana presents the best option.
The FDA says that marijuana is not a medicine and medical marijuana
laws subvert its drug approval process
26
•
The FDA issued its April 2006 statement without conducting any studies or
even reviewing studies performed by others. It was immediately denounced by
health experts and newspaper editorial boards around the country as being
political and unscientific. The agency, which was under pressure from rabidly
anti-medical marijuana politicians such as former Congressman Mark Souder (RIndiana), ignored any evidence that contradicts federal policy, such as the 1999
Institute of Medicine report. A co-author of the IOM report, Dr. John A. Benson,
told The New York Times that the government “loves to ignore our report ... They
would rather it never happened.”27
•
We know much more about marijuana’s safety and efficacy than most offlabel prescriptions. Half of all current prescriptions have not been declared safe
and effective by the FDA. More than 20% of all drug prescriptions in this country
are “off-label” — i.e., they are prescribed to treat conditions for which they were
not approved.28
•
State medical marijuana laws do not conflict with the FDA drug approval
process. They simply protect medical marijuana patients from arrest and jail
under state law. Also, the FDA does not bar Americans from growing, using, and
possessing a wide variety of medical herbs that it has not approved as prescription
drugs, including echinacea, ginseng, and St. John’s Wort.
•
The federal government has blocked most researchers from doing the
specific types of studies that would be required for licensing, labeling, and
marketing marijuana as a prescription drug. They’ve created a perfect Catch22: Federal officials say “Marijuana isn’t a medicine because the FDA hasn’t
GW Pharmaceuticals, “Product Monograph: Sativex,” April 13, 2005, 27.
Harris, Gardiner, “FDA Dismisses Medical Benefit From Marijuana,” New York Times, April 21, 2006.
28
Radley, David C., Finkelstein Stan N., and Stafford, Randall S., “Off-label Prescribing Among Office-Based
Physicians," Archives of Internal Medicine 166 (9), 2006: 1021–1026.
27
approved it,” while making sure that the studies needed for FDA approval never
happen.
•
Technically, marijuana should not require FDA approval. Prior to the agency
being created by the 1938 Food, Drug, and Cosmetics Act, about two-dozen
preparations of marijuana were on the market, many of which were produced by
well-known pharmaceutical companies. Under the terms of the Act, marijuana is
not a “new” drug, thus it should not be subject to FDA new drug approval
requirements. Many older drugs, such as aspirin and morphine, were
“grandfathered in” under this provision without ever being submitted for newdrug approval by the FDA.
Marijuana is too dangerous to be used as a medicine; there are 10,000
studies showing marijuana is dangerous
29
•
A large and growing body of scientific evidence demonstrates that the health
risks associated with marijuana are actually relatively minor. The 1999
Institute of Medicine report noted, “[E]xcept for the harms associated with
smoking, the adverse effects of marijuana use are within the range of effects
tolerated for other medications.29 In 2008, the American College of Physicians
agreed, citing marijuana’s “relatively low toxicity.”30 (See the following section
for more information about smoking.)
•
Marijuana is non-lethal and does not contribute to or increase the likelihood
of death. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has never listed
marijuana as a cause of death (although it does list alcohol and other drugs). A
government-funded study conducted by researchers at the Kaiser Permanente
HMO found no association between marijuana use and premature death in
otherwise healthy people.31 Marijuana is so safe that patients can easily find the
proper dose themselves with no danger of overdose. As University of Washington
researcher Dr. Gregory Carter and colleagues noted in a recent journal article,
“THC (and other cannabinoids) has relatively low toxicity and lethal doses in
humans have not been described ... It has been estimated that approximately 628
kilograms of cannabis would have to be smoked in 15 minutes to induce a lethal
effect.”32 Meanwhile, prescription drugs have become one of the leading causes
of accidental death in the United States.33 Why is it okay for people to use these
potentially deadly prescription drugs, but not okay for them to use a drug that has
never killed anyone?
Institute of Medicine, 5.
American College of Physicians, “Supporting Research into the Therapeutic Role of Marijuana,” 2008.
31
Sidney S., et al., “Marijuana Use and Mortality,” American Journal of Public Health 87(4), April 1997: 585-590.
32
Carter, Gregory T., et al., “Medicinal Cannabis: Rational Guidelines for Dosing,” IDrugs 7(5), 2004: 464-470.
33
Guarino, Mark, “Prescription drug abuse now more deadly than heroin, cocaine combined,” Christian Science
Monitor, October 7, 2013.
30
•
All medicines can have some negative side effects, but with marijuana they
are relatively minimal. For example, Tylenol (acetaminophen) has been
estimated to kill nearly 500 Americans per year by causing acute liver failure,34
while no one has ever died from marijuana poisoning. But no one would seriously
suggest banning Tylenol because it’s too dangerous. In contrast, recent medical
marijuana studies have found no significant side effects. The question is this: Do
the benefits outweigh the risks for an individual patient? Such decisions should be
made by doctors and patients, not the criminal justice system.
•
The “10,000 studies” claim is simply not true. The University of Mississippi
Research Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences maintains a 12,000-citation
bibliography on the entire body of marijuana literature. The institute notes: “Many
of the studies cited in the bibliography are clinical, but the total number also
includes papers on the chemistry and botany of the Cannabis plant, cultivation,
epidemiological surveys, legal aspects, eradication studies, detection, storage,
economic aspects and a whole spectrum of others that do not mention positive or
negative effects ... However, we have never broken down that figure into
positive/negative papers, and I would not even venture a guess as to what that
number would be.”35
Medicine should not be smoked and smoking marijuana is more
damaging than smoking tobacco
34
•
There are many ways to consume marijuana other than smoking, such as
vaporizing, edible products, tinctures, and capsules. Vaporizers are simple
devices that give users the fast action of inhaled cannabinoids without most of the
unwanted irritants found in smoke. Research on vaporizers has proceeded more
slowly than it should have because of federal obstructionism.
•
The effects of smoking marijuana pale in comparison to those associated with
smoking tobacco. First and foremost, there has never been a single documented
case of a marijuana-only smoker developing lung cancer as a result of his or her
marijuana use. In 1999, the Institute of Medicine reported, “There is no
conclusive evidence that marijuana causes cancer in humans, including cancers
usually related to tobacco use.”36 This was confirmed in 2006 with the release of
the largest case-controlled study ever conducted to investigate the respiratory
effects of marijuana smoking and cigarette smoking.37 The study, conducted by
Dr. Donald Tashkin at the University of California at Los Angeles, found that
marijuana smoking was not associated with an increased risk of developing lung
cancer. Surprisingly, the researchers found that people who smoked marijuana
Lee, William, “Acetaminophen and the U.S. Acute Liver Failure Study Group: Lowering the Risk of Hepatic
Failure,” Hepatology 40 (1), 2004: 6-9.
35
Letter from Beverly Urbanek, Research Associate of the University of Mississippi Research Institute of
Pharmaceutical Sciences (601-232-5914), to Dr. G. Alan Robison, Drug Policy Forum of Texas, June 13, 1996.
36
Institute of Medicine, 119.
37
American Thoracic Society, “Study Finds No Link Between Marijuana Use And Lung Cancer,” Science Daily, May
26, 2006.
actually had lower incidences of cancer compared to non-users. In fact, some
researchers have reported a “possible protective effect of marijuana” against lung
cancer.38
•
All medicines have risks and side effects, and part of a physician’s job is to
evaluate those risks in relation to the potential benefits for the individual
patient. Many prescription drugs have side effects — most of which are far more
severe than those of marijuana — but that doesn’t mean it should be illegal for
seriously ill people to use them.
Marijuana is bad for the immune system
38
•
Scientific studies have not demonstrated any significant harm to the immune
system caused by marijuana. The Institute of Medicine reported, “Despite the
many claims that marijuana suppresses the human immune system, the health
effects of marijuana-induced immunomodulation are still unclear.”39 The IOM
also noted, “The short-term immunosuppressive effects [of marijuana] are not
well established; if they exist at all, they are probably not great enough to
preclude a legitimate medical use.”40
•
Extensive research in HIV/AIDS patients — whose immune systems are
particularly vulnerable — shows no sign of marijuana-related harm.
University of California at San Francisco researcher Donald Abrams, M.D. has
studied marijuana and Marinol in AIDS patients taking anti-HIV combination
therapy. Not only was there no sign of immune system damage, but the patients
gained T-lymphocytes, the critical immune system cells lost in AIDS, and also
gained more weight than those taking a placebo. Patients using marijuana also
showed greater reductions in the amount of HIV in their bloodstream.41 Longterm studies of HIV/AIDS patients have shown that marijuana use (including
social or recreational use) does not worsen the course of their disease. For
example, in a six-year study of HIV patients conducted by Harvard University
researchers, marijuana users showed no increased risk of developing AIDSrelated illness.42 In her book Nutrition and HIV, internationally known AIDS
specialist Mary Romeyn, M.D. noted, “The early, well-publicized studies on
marijuana in the 1970s, which purported to show a negative effect on immune
status, used amounts far in excess of what recreational smokers, or wasting
Hashibe, Mia, et al., “Marijuana Use and the Risk of Lung and Upper Aerodigestive Tract Cancers: Results of a
Population-Based Case-Control Study,” Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers and Prevention 15(10), 2006: 1829-1834.
39
Institute of Medicine, 109.
40
Institute of Medicine, 126.
41
Abrams D., et al., “Short-Term Effects of Cannabinoids in Patients With HIV-1 Infection,” Annals of Internal
Medicine 139 (2003): 258-266.
42
Di Franco, M.J., et al., “The Lack of Association of Marijuana and Other Recreational Drugs With Progression to
AIDS in the San Francisco Men’s Health Study,” Annals of Epidemiology 6(4), 1996: 283-289.
patients with prescribed medication, would actually use ... Looking at marijuana
medically rather than sociopolitically, this is a good drug for people with HIV.”43
Marijuana contains over 400 chemicals, including most of the harmful
compounds found in tobacco smoke
•
The number of chemical compounds in a substance is irrelevant. Coffee,
mother’s milk, broccoli, and most foods also contain hundreds of different
chemical compounds. Marijuana is a relatively safe medicine, regardless of the
number of chemical compounds found therein.
Marijuana’s side effects — for instance, increased blood pressure —
negate its effectiveness in fighting glaucoma
• Marijuana has been found to be exceptionally beneficial for people with
glaucoma, and its side effects are minimal compared to other drugs. In fact,
the federal government has given marijuana to at least three patients with
glaucoma, and it preserved their vision for years after they were expected to go
blind. Paul Palmberg, M.D. one member of an expert panel convened by the
National Institutes of Health in 1997 to review the scientific data on medical
marijuana, explained during the group’s discussion on February 20, 1997, “I don’t
think there’s any doubt about its effectiveness, at least in some people with
glaucoma.”44
Marijuana use can increase the risk of mental illness, including
schizophrenia
• There is no compelling evidence demonstrating marijuana causes psychosis
in otherwise healthy individuals. Overall, the evidence suggests that marijuana
can precipitate schizophrenia in vulnerable individuals but is unlikely to cause the
illness in otherwise normal persons.45 Epidemiological data show no
correlation between rates of marijuana use and rates of psychosis or
schizophrenia. Countries with high rates of marijuana use don’t have higher rates
of these illnesses than countries where marijuana use is more rare, and research
has consistency failed to find a connection between increases in marijuana use
and increased rates of psychosis.46,47 As with all medications, the physician needs
43
Romeyn, Mary, Nutrition and HIV: A New Model for Treatment, Second Edition (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1998),
117-118.
44
“Transcripts of Open Discussions Held on February 20, 1997, Book Two, Tab C, Pp. 96-97; Washington, D.C.:
ACE-Federal Reporters, Inc.
45
Hall, W., Degenhardt L., “What are the policy implications of the evidence on cannabis and psychosis?,” Canadian
Journal of Psychiatry 51(9), August 2006: 566-574.
46
Hall, W., “Is Cannabis Use Psychotogenic?,” The Lancet, vol. 367, January 22, 2006.
47
Frisher, M., et al., “Assessing the Impact of Cannabis Use on Trends in Diagnosed Schizophrenia in the United
Kingdom from 1996 to 2005,” Schizophrenia Research, vol. 113, September 2009.
to consider what is an appropriate medication in light of the individual patient’s
situation and may well suggest avoiding marijuana or cannabinoids in patients
with a family or personal history of psychosis. This is the sort of risk/benefit
assessment that physicians are trained to make.
It sends the wrong message to teens
•
There does not appear to be a link between the passage of medical marijuana
laws and increases in teen marijuana use, and in some cases it appears to be
associated with decreases in teen use. A 2012 study conducted by researchers at
universities in Colorado, Montana, and Oregon found “no statistical evidence that
legalization increases the probability of [teen] use,” and noted that “the data often
showed a negative relationship between legalization and [teen] marijuana use.”48
State surveys of students in several states with medical marijuana laws have
consistently reported declines in teen marijuana use since those laws were
passed.49
In 2012, an annual survey conducted by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention found that marijuana use by Colorado high school students has
dropped since the state began regulating medical marijuana in 2010.50 California
has had a similar experience. According to the state-sponsored California Student
Survey (CSS), marijuana use by California teens was on the rise until 1996 — the
year California adopted its medical marijuana law — at which point it began
dropping dramatically (by nearly half in some age groups).51 As part of the 19971998 CSS, the State of California also commissioned an independent study
examining the effects of its medical marijuana law, which concluded, “There is no
evidence supporting that the passage of Proposition 215 increased marijuana use
during this period.”52
•
Laws that are not based on science send the wrong message to young people
— especially those that needlessly criminalize seriously ill people for using a
substance with proven medical benefits. Children should be taught the facts
about all drugs and the difference between medical use and abuse. We allow
doctors to prescribe cocaine, morphine, and methamphetamine, and we teach
48
Anderson, D. Mark, Hansen, Benjamin, and Rees, Daniel I., “Medical Marijuana Laws and Teen Marijuana Use,”
Institute for the Study of Labor, May 2012.
49
O’Keefe, Karen, et al., “Marijuana Use by Young People: The Impact of State Medical Marijuana Laws,” Marijuana
Policy Project, June 2011.
50
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1991-2011 High School Youth Risk Behavior Survey Data.
Available at http://apps.nccd.cdc.gov/youthonline.
51
“Report to Attorney General Bill Lockyer, 11th Biennial California Student Survey, Grades 7, 9 and 11,” WestEd,
2006.
52
Skager, Rodney, Austin, Greg, and Wong, Mamie, “Marijuana Use and the Response to Proposition 215 Among
California Youth, a Special Study From the California Student Substance Use Survey (Grades 7, 9, and 11), 19971998.”
young people that these drugs are used for medical purposes. We can do the same
thing with marijuana.
We can’t allow patients to grow marijuana, especially in homes with
children
•
Patients should be able to grow their own medical marijuana if it is the best
way for them to access it, and sometimes it’s the only way to access it. Some
patients are not able to access a medical marijuana dispensary because there isn’t
one nearby or they do not have a means of transportation.
•
We allow people to possess all sorts of prescription drugs, most of which are
far more dangerous than a few marijuana plants being grown in a patient’s
basement or closet. All medicines need to be handled with appropriate care and
kept out of easy reach of children. There are already laws against selling
marijuana to non-patients, and child protective services agencies already have the
power to protect children whose parents are engaged in criminal activity. A
medical marijuana law that allows patients to grow limited amounts of marijuana
will not change any of this.
•
Criminals break into homes every day to steal valuable items — jewelry,
high-end electronics, and even prescription drugs. We don’t ban possession of
these items because the owners might be victims of a crime. By this logic, parents
shouldn’t be allowed to drive Honda Accords (the most-stolen vehicle in 2012,
according to the National Insurance Crime Bureau). If medical marijuana is legal,
it should be treated like any other legal product.
Medical marijuana bills and initiatives are full of loopholes
•
All medical marijuana laws adopted since 1998 were drafted very carefully
to make sure there are no loopholes, real or imagined. These laws are not at all
like the comparatively open-ended law in California, which — despite criticism
that it is being abused — is still widely supported by California voters. For
example, in Los Angeles – where most reports of abuse have come from – a
Mason-Dixon poll in October 2009 found 74 percent support for the law,
including patients’ right to purchase medical marijuana from dispensaries, with
only 16 percent opposed.
•
No law will ever be considered entirely perfect by everyone. The goal is to
produce the best possible law that is supported by the most voters.
Ultimately, medical marijuana advocates have nothing to gain and everything to
lose by wording initiatives poorly.
Medical marijuana laws basically legalize marijuana for everyone
•
These laws only allow people to use marijuana if they have a qualifying
medical condition and receive a recommendation from a licensed physician
who believes it will benefit them. The General Accounting Office (the
investigative arm of Congress, renamed the Government Accountability Office)
interviewed officials from 37 law enforcement agencies in four states with
medical marijuana laws. A key issue they examined was whether medical
marijuana laws had interfered with enforcement of laws regarding non-medical
use. According to the GAO’s November 2002 report, the majority of these
officials “indicated that medical marijuana laws had had little impact on their law
enforcement activities.”53 Whenever medical marijuana laws are being considered
by voters or legislators, opponents claim it will result in marijuana basically being
legalized for everyone. Yet, voters and lawmakers still approve these laws —
oftentimes in states where there isn’t strong support for broader legalization —
because they recognize that these medical laws are a safe and responsible means
of helping patients.
Medical marijuana laws only pass because of well-funded and/or
misleading campaigns
•
National and state public opinion polls have consistently shown
overwhelming public support for allowing seriously ill people to use medical
marijuana. Also, polling in states that have had medical marijuana laws for years
shows support is just as high or — in most cases — higher than when they were
on the ballot.54 Clearly, voters are not being fooled into voting for these laws. The
amount spent in support of passing medical marijuana laws is a drop in the bucket
compared to the billions of dollars spent by our federal government to keep
marijuana entirely illegal.
Medical marijuana laws confuse law enforcement officials
•
What’s so confusing? If a person has documentation showing they are a legal
medical marijuana patient or caregiver, they shouldn’t be arrested or
prosecuted. If the person does not have suitable documentation, either call the
person’s doctor or arrest the person and let the courts decide. It is no more
confusing than determining whether someone is the legal owner of a piece of
property, whether they are a legal immigrant, or whether they are drinking alcohol
underage or in violation of their probation.
Medical marijuana dispensaries are out of control
•
53
State-regulated medical marijuana dispensaries are tightly controlled and
have not been linked to any significant problems. Dispensaries have been less
General Accounting Office, “Report to the Chairman, Subcommittee on Criminal Justice, Drug Policy and Human
Resources, Committee on Government Reform, U.S. House of Representatives. Marijuana: Early Experiences With
Four States’ Laws that Allow Use for Medical Purposes,” Washington, D.C.: GAO, 2002, p. 32.
54
Marijuana Policy Project, “Proposition 215 10 Years Later: Medical Marijuana Goes Mainstream,” November 2006.
controlled in California, whose medical marijuana law was the first and most
loosely worded, but the laws that have passed since then have been much clearer
and more effective at keeping things controlled. In fact, medical marijuana
dispensaries are among the most tightly regulated businesses in these states, and
they are under an exceptional amount of scrutiny. As a result, they do everything
they can to follow the rules and keep things under control.
•
There is no evidence that dispensaries cause crime, and there is some
evidence that they might reduce it. For example, in Colorado, a Denver Police
Department analyses conducted at the request of the city council found robbery
and burglary rates at dispensaries were lower than area banks and liquor stores
and on par with those of pharmacies.55 The Colorado Springs Police Department
also found no correlation between medical marijuana businesses and increased
crime.56
Medical marijuana is just a Trojan horse for broader legalization
•
Medical marijuana laws are being passed to help people, not to further
broader legalization efforts. Criminalizing seriously ill people for using medical
marijuana is the most egregious element of marijuana prohibition, so it’s not
surprising that voters and lawmakers are addressing it before moving on to the
broader legalization debate. Supporters of medical marijuana include some of the
most respected medical and public health organizations in the country, including
the American College of Physicians, the American Public Health Association, the
American Nurses Association, the Academy of HIV Medicine, and the Epilepsy
Foundation. Surely these organizations are not part of a conspiracy to legalize
marijuana and other drugs.
•
Every law should be judged on its own merits. If voters or lawmakers believe
seriously ill people should be allowed to use medical marijuana, they will support
a law that allows it. If a broader reform measure comes up, they can decide then
whether they want to support or oppose it. There is no reason why we can’t pass a
medical marijuana law now just because some people are worried there will be
support for other laws later.
People aren’t actually arrested for medical marijuana
•
55
There were approximately 750,000 Americans arrested for marijuanarelated offenses in 2012.57 Unfortunately, the government does not keep track of
how many were medical patients. But even if only one percent of those arrestees
Ingold, John, “Analysis: Denver pot shops’ robbery rate lower than banks,” Denver Post, January 27, 2010.
Rodgers, Jakob, “Marijuana shops not magnets for crime, police say,” Colorado Springs Gazette, September 13,
2010.
57
United States Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Crime in the United States, 2012, October
2013.
56
were using marijuana for medical purposes, that is 7,500 arrests! There have been
countless publicized and unpublicized arrests for medical marijuana throughout
the country. It was the arrest of well-known medical marijuana patients in
California in the 1990s that prompted people to launch the medical marijuana
initiative there in 1996.
•
Even the fear of arrest is a terrible punishment for seriously ill patients. The
stress and anxiety associated with it can be more detrimental to a person’s health
and immune system than marijuana itself. We know medical marijuana can help
people; we should not be scaring them away from using it by threatening them
with arrest.
•
If you don’t think patients are really getting arrested for using medical
marijuana, why is it a problem to have a law that ensures they do not get
arrested?
Nobody is in prison for medical marijuana
•
Federal law and the laws of 27 states do not make any exceptions for medical
marijuana, and without a medical necessity defense available, medical
marijuana users are treated the same as recreational users. Federally,
possession of even one joint carries a penalty of up to one year in prison.
Cultivation of even one plant is a felony, with a maximum sentence of five years.
Many states’ laws are in this same ballpark. Some patients are even sent to prison.
Here are just a few examples:
In December 2009, New Jersey multiple sclerosis patient John Wilson was
convicted of “operating a drug manufacturing facility” for growing the marijuana
he used to treat his multiple sclerosis, and faced a sentence of five to 10 years in
state prison. Rancher and Vietnam veteran Larry Rathbun was arrested in
December 1999 for cultivating medical marijuana to relieve his degenerative
multiple sclerosis. When he was arrested in 1999, he could still walk, which he
attributed to the medical use of marijuana. After serving 19 months, Rathbun
came out of Montana State Prison confined to a wheelchair. Byron Stamate spent
three months in a California jail for growing marijuana for his disabled girlfriend
(who killed herself so that she would not have to testify against Byron). Gordon
Farrell Ethridge spent 60 days in an Oregon jail for growing marijuana to treat the
pain from his terminal cancer. Quadriplegic Jonathan Magbie, who used
marijuana to ease the constant pain from the childhood injury that left him
paralyzed, died in a Washington, D.C. jail in September 2004 while serving a 10day sentence for marijuana possession.
•
Patients are being punished even if they are not sent to prison. They are
arrested and sometimes handcuffed and put in the back of a police car. Sometimes
their doors get kicked in, and police ransack their houses. Sometimes they spend a
day or two in jail. They have to appear in court, and court costs and attorney fees
must be paid by the patient and the taxpayers. Probation — which means urine
tests for a couple of years and the patient being unable to use his or her medical
marijuana. There are huge fines and possible loss of employment, which hurt the
patient’s ability to pay insurance, medical bills, rent, food, home-care expenses,
and so on. Then there’s the stigma of having a drug conviction on one’s record,
which could also result in doctors being unwilling to prescribe some medications.
Should any of this happen to seriously ill people for using what they and their
doctors believe is a beneficial medicine?
The government is making it easier to do medical marijuana research
•
The federal government remains intensely hostile to medical marijuana. As a
Schedule I drug, marijuana can be researched as a medicine only with federal
approval. Some studies have been completed, and they’ve all shown medical
marijuana to be safe and effective, but they have not been large enough to bring
about FDA approval of marijuana as a prescription drug. More research is always
desirable, but we know enough right now to know that there is no justification for
arresting patients using medical marijuana under their doctors’ care.
Until California voters passed Proposition 215 in 1996, federal authorities
blocked all efforts to study marijuana’s medical benefits. Since then, federal
restrictions have been loosened somewhat, and a small number of studies have
gone forward, but that happened because the passage of ballot initiatives forced
the government to acknowledge the need for research. To put it in perspective, the
federal government has refused to study the patients to whom it has provided
medical marijuana for more than 25 years as part of an investigative new drug
program. If the political pressure created by ballot initiatives and legislative
proposals subsides, the feds will surely go back to their old, obstructionist ways.
•
All medical marijuana research must use marijuana supplied by the National
Institute on Drug Abuse, which is known for its very poor quality. This lowgrade marijuana has less efficacy and more side effects than the marijuana that is
now available through medical marijuana dispensaries. Scientists and activists
have appealed to the Drug Enforcement Administration to allow other sources of
marijuana to be used, and in 2007, DEA Administrative Law Judge Mary Ellen
Bittner ruled that a proposed University of Massachusetts project to grow and
study marijuana for medical purposes should be allowed to proceed. But the DEA
did not follow Bittner’s ruling and has given no indication that it intends to do so.
The U.S. government remains the largest single obstacle to medical marijuana
research.
State medical marijuana laws violate federal law
•
The U.S. Department of Justice issued a memo in August 2013 saying it
would respect states’ rights to adopt their own marijuana policies. As long as
states create and enforce adequate regulations for cultivating and selling
marijuana, the federal government will only go after those who they believe are
violating state laws and regulations. There are medical marijuana laws in 23 states
plus Washington, D.C., and there are marijuana businesses operating openly in
many of them. The federal government has largely refrained from interfering in
states where marijuana is being regulated.
•
States are not required to enforce federal laws against marijuana possession
or cultivation. The Controlled Substances Act (CSA) specifically allows states to
enact their own laws related to controlled substances, and states are free to
determine their own penalties — or lack thereof — for drug offenses.
•
State government employees have never faced punishments for carrying out
state medical marijuana laws — even in situations when law enforcement
officials have returned seized marijuana to the owners. Following the passage
of a medical marijuana law in Arizona, Gov. Jan Brewer filed a lawsuit claiming
the state could not implement the law because state employees would face
prosecution. In a reply brief, the Department of Justice basically said the fears
were unfounded.
The courts have ruled marijuana is not medicine and states cannot
legalize medical marijuana
•
No court has ruled that marijuana is not medicine, and no court has ruled
that states cannot adopt and implement medical marijuana laws.
The majority opinion in the Supreme Court’s June 2005 decision in Gonzales v.
Raich stated unequivocally that “marijuana does have valid therapeutic purposes.”
The ruling did not overturn state medical marijuana laws or prevent states from
enacting new ones. It simply preserved the status quo — states can stop arresting
medical marijuana patients and caregivers under state law, but these laws don’t
create immunity from federal prosecution. The Supreme Court’s other ruling
related to medical marijuana — a 2001 case involving a California medical
marijuana dispensary — did not overturn state medical marijuana laws. It simply
declared that under federal law, those distributing medical marijuana could not
use a “medical necessity” defense in federal court. This extremely narrow ruling
did not in any way curb the rights of states to protect patients under state law.
In both cases, the court went out of its way to leave open the possibility that
individual patients could successfully present a “medical necessity” claim.
•
The U.S. Department of Justice has never tried to challenge the rights of
states to enact medical marijuana laws. In August 2013, the Department of
Justice issued a memo stating it would respect states’ rights to establish systems
of regulated marijuana cultivation and distribution for medical and broader adult
use.